Do not miss this article from Henry Jenkins, outlining his thoughts on what media education of the future might look like.
Excellent stuff, lots to think about. In specific, Jenkins raises some great questions regarding media's role in society, the blurring of the lines between consumption and creation of media and the implications of fundemantal shifts in power within our culture.
I may be biased, but in my opinion, the relationship between commerce and culture, social organization and technology, hinges on media, and anything that contributes to improving our understanding of media today is sorely needed. (Few are better than Jenkins).
imagine what would happen if academic departments operated more like YouTube or Wikipedia, allowing for the rapid deployment of scattered expertise and the dynamic reconfiguration of fields. Let's call this new form of academic unit a "YouNiversity."
How might media studies, the field most committed to mapping these changes as they affect modern life, be taught in a YouNiversity?
One theme in his piece that comes through loud and clear, and why I want to share this here: old distinctions between technology and culture, or even public discourse and academic study are no longer as relevant. We're at a critical point in the reshaping of culture and society as a result of networked technologies, and it's high time that the ivory towers become part of the real world, in order to contribute to the public good.
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